Learning Styles:
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Introduction
Over the years there has been an enormous amount of research into how we learn, but so far, no one has managed to come up with a coherent set of guidelines that would explain how all students learn in any one context. What we have learnt is that students have different approaches to learning and these approaches may be influenced by several factors. Typically though, students can be seen to use one of three broad approaches to learning – surface, deep and strategic.
Surface approach: Here students are more likely to be motivated by the need to 'finish the course' and the approach is characterised by remembering information rather than understanding it. Often the focus is on the task itself rather than its purpose or meaning.
Deep approach: In contrast, deep learning approaches are motivated by an interest in the subject and the desire to learn more and more about a subject in order that they can understand it and then apply it. Students using a deep approach can arrive at knowledge by different routes. Some prefer a 'step by step' approach where overall principles are built up by a series of specific and graded examples, i.e. the learner goes from the specific to the general. Alternatively, the 'comprehension' learner starts with the broad outlines of an idea; then by using either analogies or a range of examples, and from past experience; tries to give the material more personal meaning.
Strategic approach: Here the motivation is to achieve high marks and/or to compete with others. Students who use this approach use both surface and some deep learning in order to maximise their marks. Of course an ambition to achieve high marks is not wrong, but it should not be the sole aim of education. Your degree/diploma is also about showing that your learning has been successful and that you have gained control over it so that it can be improved throughout life - so called 'life long learning'. Finally it is about equipping you with the necessary tools to succeed in your chosen career - and this will require both a rich knowledge base of your subject area, together with a set of 'skills' that allows you to adapt and apply this knowledge to new tasks and new problems to further increase your experience.
The following learning styles are noted here to help you achieve a deeper approach to your chosen career path.
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